The researchers are hoping to convince Google to work the technology into Android via an over-the-air-update, though haven't broached the subject with the company yet.

The privacy mode software – dubbed Taming Information-Stealing Smartphone Applications (TISSA) - would give Android users more control over what information they divulge to makers of third-party apps, both at the time of downloading the app and while it's running. Privacy modes would include Trusted, Anonymised, Bogus and Empty, allowing a user to give an application everything from full access to none at all, including somewhere in between that would give an app at least enough information to work with.

TISSA could also be customised around the app. For example, a weather app could be given a general idea of where a user is located, but not a precise address.

As an Android smartphone user himself, North Carolina State University assistant professor Xuxian Jiang is sensitive to the threat of his personal data being stolen by hackers. He says he was motivated to work on TISSA after finding a data stealing vulnerability in Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).